Understanding What Motivates China

When dealing with China it is important for America and its allies to realize that China harbors legitimate grievances against the West and Japan.

During the 19th century many European nation states controlled and/or invaded parts of China for their own commercial and security interests. In the 20th century, Imperial Japan invaded China and committed unspeakable atrocities. These illegal incursions caused China to experience political and social chaos, something that is embedded in the memory of the Chinese.

While these ‘humiliations’ do not justify China’s recent aggressive moves, they must be considered in attempting to gain a perspective on what motivates Chinese behavior.

The concept that the public, especially in a democracy, is a critical ingredient to achieving victory in war goes back to at least the First World War. According to the renowned British military historian Michael Howard, it was the home front that made the difference between victory and defeat. To quote from his book War in European History:

“The outcome of the Great War…had made it clear that war was no longer decided by traditional military skills. It had shown that armies in the field could not be defeated so long as they could be kept supplied with manpower and munitions. War…was not as it had been in the past, a conflict between armed forces alone, or even between treasuries. It was one between the will-power and the morale of the belligerent populations. What had ultimately brought the war to an end had been, not military victory in itself, but the disintegration of what had…become known as ‘the Home Front’: the solidarity of the civilian population behind its leaders, their willingness to go on bearing the burdens of deprivation and suffering which ‘the war effort’ demanded.”

This is a reality that American citizens and the citizens of its allies need to take to heart.

The wrong message can lead to misunderstanding and disaster.

Consider that in January 1950, the American government stated that the United States would rely on naval and air forces to hold a defensive perimeter of certain offshore islands. These primarily consisted of Japan, Okinawa and the Philippines. This basically said to North Korea’s Kim Il-sung, China’s Mao Zedong and the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin, that the rest of East Asia was theirs for the taking.

Less than six months later, in June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. In spite of the earlier declaration, America went to war to protect its ally South Korea from North Korea, a Communist ally of China and the Soviet Union. Over thirty-six thousand Americans died fighting that war.

Today, that original 1950’s American declaration still leaves Taiwan at the mercy of China. America needs to be very clear about its intentions and capabilities in order to deter future aggression.